William H. McKellin

  • Assistant Professor
  • Associate Director, Doctor, Patient and Society Courses, Faculty of Medicine
  • (604) 822-2756 (AnSo 3123)
  • william.mckellin(at)ubc.ca
  • Ph.D. Toronto, 1980

Research Interests

Medical, linguistic and cultural anthropology; socio-linguistics and discourse analysis; clinical medical anthropology; genetics and society; international health; cognitive anthropology; kinship and social organization; Papua New Guinea; Canada.

Research Affiliations

Current Research Projects

  • Principal investigator, Changing Understandings of Genetics in Hereditary Cancer: Clinician's Understandings of the Impact of Genetic Information. A study of the changes in geneticists' and oncologists' understandings of genetics, cancer and clinical practices resulting from the availability of genetic testing.
  • Co-investigator, Program development for hereditary cancer risk assessment and follow-up in rural B.C. communities: Needs assessment and education tools. D. Horsman, principal investigator. Faculty of Medicine Special Populations Strategic Grant, $25,000. A study of the needs of general practicioners and oncologists to provide appropriate referrals and genetic counselling for hereditary cancers.
  • Co-principal investigator, Acoustic Ecology. Kathy Fuller, co-principal investigator. Peter Wall Institute for Advanced Studies. 2000-2003, $500,000. A multidisciplinary examination of listening in everyday settings and computational means of simulating and manipulating sounds and the listening process.
  • Co-investigator, Population Health Assessment Initiative. M. McLean, principal investigator. Faculty of Medicine Special Populations Strategic Grant.$25,000. A joint venture between the Vancouver Richmond Health Board and the Faculty of Medicine to examine the health status of underserved populations in Vancouver.

Publications

  • 2003 McKellin, William H. Comparative Analysis. In International Encyclopedia of Marriage and Family Relationships. J. et.al. Ponzetti, ed. New York: Macmillan.
  • 2001 McKellin, William H. Clinical Ethics and Family Morality. American Journal of Bioethics 1(3):31-32.
  • 2000. Cox, S. and W. McKellin. "There's This Thing in Our Family":Predictive Testing and the Social Construction of Risk for Huntington Disease. Sociology of Health and Illness 21:(5) 622-646.
  • 1999 Dougan, S, S. Creighton, W. McKellin, and B. McGillivray Carrier testing in Duchenne muscular dystrophy: Identifying concerns and assessing attitudes. Journal of Genetic Counseling 8(6):391.
  • 1998 McKellin, W. Health, Disease, Sickness, and Illness in Maternal and Child Health. Cape Town: Child Health Unit, University of Cape Town.
  • 1997 McKellin, W. Introduction to the Social and Behavioural Sciences. Vancouver: Faculty of Medicine, University of British Columbia.
  • 1995 McKellin, W. Cognition, Meaning and Kinship: Connectionist Models of Cultural Representation. Culture 15(1):19-31.
  • 1995 McKellin, W. Hearing Impaired Families: The Social Ecology of Hearing Loss. Social Sciences and Medicine 40(11):1469-1480.
  • 1995 Copley, T., S. Wiggins, S. Adam, M. Bloch, W.McKellin, M. Hayden. Are We all of One Mind? Differences in Opinion between Clinicians and Participants Regarding a Service Protocol for Predictive Testing for Huntington's Disease. American Journal of Medical Genetics 38:59-69.
  • 1995 Adam, S., S. Wiggins, K. Lawson, B. McKellin, and M. Hayden Predictive testing for Huntington disease (HD): Differences in uptake and characteristics of linked marker and direct test cohorts. American Journal of Human Genetics 57 (Suppl.):A292.
  • 1995 Barker, J. and W. McKellin A Bibliography of Oro Province. Research In Melanesia 17:123-182.
  • 1994 Benjamin, C. M, S. Adam, S. Wiggins, J.L. Theilmann, T. Copley, M. Bloch, F. Squitieri, W. McKellin, S. Cox, et al. Proceed With Care: Direct Predictive Testing for Huntington Disease. American Journal of Human Genetics 55:606-617.
  • 1994 McKellin W. Hearing and Listening: Audiology, Hearing and Hearing Impairment in Everyday Life. Journal of Speech Language Pathology and Audiology 12(4): 212-219.

Current and Recent Graduate Students

Ph.D

  • Craig Candler (Current) Buying Medicines, Building Worlds: Health and Land Use Change in Mae Chaem district, Northern Thailand [Supervisor: W. McKellin; Committee J. Barker, T. McGee] Anthropology
  • Tam Donnalley (Current) Vietnamese Women's Health: Contextual Factors Affecting Vietnamese-Canadian Women's Breast Cancer and Cervical Cancer screening Practices. [Supervisors: W. McKellin and J Anderson; Committee Members B. Long, G. Hislop, N. Waxler-Morrison] IISP
  • Dan Small. (2003) Understandings of Cancer Genetics: Cases of Hereditary Colon Cancer. [Supervisor: W. McKellin. Committee Members: N. Waxler-Morrison, D. Horsman] Anthropology
  • Margo Fryer (2003) The Interface between Conventional and Alternative Approaches to Cancer. [Supervisors: W. McKellin and J. Bottorff; Committee Members: T. McBeth, S. Suttcliffe, K. Bassett] IISP
  • Cox, Sue (1999) It's not a secret but... Predictive Testing and Patterns of Communication About Genetic Info in Families at Risk for Huntington Disease. [Supervisor B. Elliott; Committee W. McKellin, N. Waxler-Morrison] Sociology
  • Emma Varley (2002) Women's Biomedical Health Initiatives in Rural Northern Pakistan. [Supervisor: W. McKellin]
  • Northey, Tracy (2000) Where's Mom? The Meanings Of Fetal Alcohol Syndrome. [Supervisor: W. McKellin] Anthropology
  • Mio, Keishin (2001) Between Cultures, Between Life and Death. A Qualitative Study of the Experiences of Health Care Professionals Providing Hospice Palliative Care for Ethno-Cultural Others. [Supervisor: W. McKellin]
  • Bracewell, Maureen (2001) Andean Musicians in Vancouver: Musical Tradition and Identity among Transnational Migrants. [Supervisor: W. McKellin]
 Web Editor Login